USPS?taking responsible steps toward stability

March 28, 2013

I would like to comment on the March 18 article by USPS workers at the Martinsburg, Customer Service Mail Processing Center (CSMPC) who gathered to protest the consolidation of mail processing operations from Martinsburg to the Baltimore, Md., processing center.

First-class mail usage by the American public has declined considerably since 2006 due to electronic diversion such as email and on-line bill payment. In fact, the postal service is handling 25 percent less first-class mail and the lost revenues associated with this mail. The protesters suggest that fixing the retiree health benefits prefunding issues alone would solve all of the financial woes of the postal service.

While it is true the prefunding obligation has resulted in a severe financial strain to postal operations and must be addressed legislatively, it is not the only encumbrance. Americans have told us with their purchasing choices how they wish to use their postal system. Again, first-class mail volumes continue to decline exponentially. Taking no action or maintaining the status-quo is not a viable solution in the changing environment.

The postal service developed the new delivery schedule (six-days for packages, five-days for mail) by working with customers to understand their delivery needs, and by identifying creative ways to generate significant cost savings. This new delivery schedule reflects the strong growth of our package business, and responds to the financial realities resulting from America's changing mailing habits.

Regarding the consolidation, we have worked closely with these employees to help them find jobs and, as always, all reassignments are made in accordance with our collective bargaining agreements. The postal service has a proven track record of working with affected employees. In fact, the postal service has reduced over 193,000 career positions since 2006 without any layoffs.

The postal service has a comprehensive business plan that addresses our financial challenges through revenue growth programs, process improvements, eliminating excess mail processing capacity, and other actions to address underutilized assets as well as improve operational efficiencies. Since 2006, the postal service has consolidated more than 200 mail processing facilities nationwide and reduced our annual cost base by approximately $15 billion. During these unprecedented initiatives, the postal service continued to deliver record high levels of service to its customers. The postal service is simply taking a responsible and reasonable step toward returning the organization to financial stability.